A Chinese pork giant isn't the only big foreign-owned meat company that has pushed to buy Smithfield Foods. A Thai conglomerate and JBS SA were both preparing bids. Shuanghui International has offered to pay $4.7 billion in cash to owners of Smithfield stock as part of a bid that will be put to a shareholder vote, according to an announcement Smithfield made Wednesday morning. But Charoen Pokphand Foods, or CP Foods for short, confirmed on Thursday it also was in negotiations with Smithfield and was considering its own bid. A company representative declined to elaborate on its interest citing a non-disclosure agreement, according to Reuters.

After getting regulatory approvals, there is only one hurdle left in Newport News-based Virginia Company Bank's merger with Tappahannock-based Eastern Virginia Bank: the go-ahead from Virginia Company shareholders, according to Virginia Company Bank President and CEO Mark C. Hanna. A special shareholders meeting for a vote on the merger has been called for 5 p.m. Oct. 22 at the City Center Marriott. If approved, the merger transaction could finish by the end of Nov. 14, Hanna said.

Nineteen more companies could be swept up in the scramble for David M. Murray Sr.'s assets if a judge agrees next week to add them as defendants in litigation spurred by Murray's debts. Michael E. Mares, the court-appointed receiver charged with figuring out what Murray owned and owed, has filed a motion listing 19 companies in which Murray was listed as an officer, director or registered agent, or in whose business affairs Murray might have actively participated. Circuit Judge Fred W. Bateman will be asked at a hearing Monday afternoon to determine which of those companies should be added to a list of seven corporations already brought under Mares' power to preserve Murray's assets.

A fire engine repair and maintenance company is moving its headquarters from Manassas to York County because the company president wants to be closer to home and says there is need for emergency vehicle repairs in Hampton Roads. Joe Pack, the president and CEO of Atlantic Emergency Solutions, is a longtime York County resident and former deputy for the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office. "I started my career in public safety at the county sheriff's office in 1980," Pack said. "I always had a passion for public safety and this thing it fit right into the mold.

By 1993, Motorola Inc. will have spent $35 million - four times its investment in a new state-of-the-art plant - to teach basic reading skills to employees. The electronics company no longer hires people who cannot do fifth-grade math and seventh-grade reading. Adhering to these standards, the company last year tested 3,000 applicants in Arlington Heights, Ill. Half failed. Motorola's hardheaded approach to closing the widening gap between what workers know and what they need to know underscores the lengths companies will go in trying to fill increasingly technical, complex and demanding jobs.

Electronic version of this article was lost during the computer program. The following is the first three paragraphs followed by any other key information. For complete text see microfilm. What makes a business want to come to the Hampton Roads? The reasons vary by company. But the area offers advantages that can attract a variety of different companies with different markets and needs, according to economic development officals. Hampton Roads' port system, already the second busiest on the East Coast, has helped make the area especially appealing to foreign companies that import or export some or all of their products.

The $30 billion-plus bill for compensating people who asbestos made ill or killed has already pushed half the companies that produced the fireproof mineral into bankruptcy. But asbestos producers are trying a variety of approaches, ranging from giving victims an ownership interest to aggressively fighting every claim, in a desperate bid to survive. Two big companies - including the one-time biggest producer of all - have emerged from bankruptcy with new plans that promise to keep paying until all the claims have been met. Others are counting on their insurance and income from their continuing businesses to meet the claims.

By Tara Bozick, tbozick@dailypress.com and TidewaterBiz | August 7, 2014

Virginia is allowing so-called ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft to operate temporarily in the state based on certain conditions, Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Mark R. Herring jointly announced Wednesday. The taxi industry is crying foul. The compromise comes after the Department of Motor Vehicles sent cease-and-desist orders to the San Francisco-based startups in June. Uber and Lyft had ignored multiple requests from the DMV that they apply for transportation broker's licenses since starting operations in Northern Virginia last year and were fined a total of $35,000.

Two Old Dominion University business-related centers have earned high marks from the companies they helped. Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology said ODU's Technology Applications Center, which helps companies develop or improve products using technology, received an overall customer satisfaction rating of 4.7 out of 5, from firms that used it, a CIT study said. The Entrepreneurial Center, which works with budding companies, earned an overall rating of 4. Both centers are funded by the CIT, a public-private organization that promotes technology.

By Diana McFarland, and dmcfarland@dailypress.com | September 30, 2014

There seems to be some confusion over who is the chief executive officer at struggling startup airline People Express. During a phone interview Monday, Michael Morisi told the Daily Press that he was the CEO and that prior news stories to the contrary were incorrect. But according to People Express spokesman Thomas Becher, Jeffrey Erickson is still the company president and CEO, as was first reported last year. The company's annual report, filed with the State Corporation Commission in May, lists Morisi as corporate secretary.

The Newport News operations of Switzerland-based Swisslog, which develops robot systems for warehouses, won't be affected by German-based Kuka's offer to buy the parent company, the local firm says. On Thursday, Kuka, a supplier of robotics and automated systems for industrial manufacturing, announced an all-cash public offer to acquire all publicly registered shares of Swisslog Holding AG for 339 million Swiss francs or $358 million. Swisslog's board of directors reviewed the offer and is recommending that shareholders accept it, according to a Swisslog news release.

By Diana McFarland, and dmcfarland@dailypress.com | September 25, 2014

Passengers have experienced a series of delays and cancellations by People Express after one of its planes was damaged by a vendor's truck - leaving the company with only one plane. The accident occurred Sept. 19 in Newport News and has impacted operations, said airline spokesman Thomas Becher. Becher declined to describe the extent of the damage, only that the plane remains out of service and it is not known when it will resume flight. "We are working hard to accommodate our customers," Becher said.

Before plans were announced to construct a new showroom facility on its corporate campus, Ferguson officials were preparing to go vertical with its fourth office building. Denise Waters Vaughn, Ferguson director of corporate communications, said Tuesday there are currently no plans to revive former plans for another office building at Ferguson's Jefferson Avenue campus, despite the firm experiencing robust growth. Prior to announcing plans for a new 15,000-square-foot showroom earlier this month, Ferguson officials back in 2007 had part of the nearly 10-acre site designated for a new office building.

Dancer Joan Gavaler of Williamsburg has teamed up with partner Dan Plehal and two other artists to create a new performing company, Aura Curiatlas Physical Theatre. Gavaler, who teaches dance at the College of William and Mary, describes the company as combining "dance, theatre, and acrobatics into a new form of creative storytelling. " Company members are far-flung. Plehal is an acrobat and theatre artist living in Chicago; Mickey Lonsdale lives in Montgomery, Ala., and Jane Rabinovitz is a dancer and choreographer in the Washington, D.C., area.

After several months as a customer of NuScriptRX, a 4-year-old pharmacy management company based in Nashville, Tenn., Sentara Healthcare has purchased a 12 percent share in the company. The company has developed a fully automated on-site medication dispensing system and a full-service centralized pharmacy system geared to the needs of long-term care facilities. "We were so impressed. We've been a customer for less than a year and thought we could do something with this," said Sentara spokesman Dale Gauding.

Why are the politicians and the press making scapegoats of the insurance companies? The article "A push to stem rate hikes," April 21, exposes the national bias concerning this issue. The article implies that the insurance companies are getting away with murder since the average premium went from $4,100 in 2001 and is at $9,100 in 2010. The article seems designed to incite anger against insurance companies — that they are charging way to much money. Here's the truth: Insurance companies charge premiums based on what it costs them to provide benefits.

TowneBank will be added to the Russell 3000 Index when the list of companies is adjusted June 27. The index is of the largest 3,000 publicly traded companies in the United States. It's adjusted annually, taking dozens of companies off and adding others. Becoming part of an index is important because many investors - particularly investment managers and large institutional investors - buy the indexes to get a low-cost return that reflects the general stock market. Joining the Russell will give TowneBank more exposure to large investors.

By Tara Bozick, tbozick@dailypress.com and TidewaterBiz | August 8, 2014

Atlanta-based InTown Suites Extended Stay Living bought four Savannah Suites-branded properties in Hampton Roads to double its presence in the market. The company is spending $17 million on the four extended-stay hotel properties at 11715 B Jefferson Ave. in Newport News, 2134 W. Mercury Blvd. in Hampton, 5649 Lowery Road in Norfolk and 1409 Tintern St. in Chesapeake, said company spokesman Collier Daily. "Expansion into this already successful and profitable market ensures we remain the leading provider of extended-stay value in Hampton Roads," CEO Jonathan Pertchik said in a news release.